How Change.org motivates millions to change the world

More than two million signed a Change.org petition demanding the prosecution of George Zimmerman over the death of Trayvon Martin

Michael Bocchieri / Getty

Ben Rattray, founder and CEO of San Fransisco-based petition site Change.org, decided to study law. This ambition lasted about as long as it took to get his first enrolment email. "That gave me access to what was then 'Thefacebook', and I realised the same technology that connected people around friends and photos could bring them together around causes that they cared about," Rattray, now 35, explains.

It was easier said than done: Change.org went through multiple iterations until Ndumie Funda, 42, a South African LGBT activist, used the site to set up a petition against her government's history of ignoring corrective rape.

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More than 170,000 people signed it and the South African government set up a task force to tackle the issue. Rattray, who cites the flexibility of startup funding as an advantage over a non-profit structure where funding is tied to a set project, realised they'd hit on something big.

The site now charges companies such as Airbnb and Virgin America for access to contact details of the people who've signed petitions and opted to receive more information. And although Change.org's war chest may pale in comparison to the large-scale tech companies that inspired it, Rattray claims this is no impediment to recruiting highly skilled workers.

"The marketplace is incredibly competitive," he says. "But merely having money is insufficient to attract the top talent - they'll have plenty of similar offers. Increasingly, people are looking to work at organisations that have a social mission they can dedicate themselves to."

Updated 29.06.2016: This article has been amended to accurately reflect Change.org's charging policy.

This article was first published in the June 2016 issue of WIRED magazine